Lawrence Brewer will be the second to stand trial in the dragging death of James Byrd Jr.

				Texas Dragging Death Trial
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JASPER, Texas (Court TV) — Lawrence Brewer, another of the three defendants in the racially-motivated dragging death of James Byrd, Jr., is scheduled to go to trial May 17th.

Brewer is accused of helping his former roommates Shawn Berry and John King beat Byrd, strip him, chain him to a pickup truck and drag him two-and-half miles until his head was severed. Berry, the only defendant who gave police a statement said that King wanted to "teach Byrd a lesson" and initiated the fatal attack.

King was convicted and sentenced to death for Byrd's murder last month. During his trial, prosecutors presented evidence suggesting that King killed Byrd as part of an initiation rite for a new white supremacist group he was trying to organize. It was also suggested that he was trying to recruit Berry for the group and tried to persuade him to participate in Byrd's murder to get initiated into the organization.

After their arrest, King sent Brewer a prison note that was intercepted in which he called Berry a "traitor" and bragged "Regardless of the outcome of this, we have made history."

It is likely that Brewer will be asked about the racist motives behind Byrd's June 1998 slaying. His defense, however, remains unclear. His defense attorneys have filed a request to move the trial out of Jasper because of pretrial publicity and potential effect King's trial may have on his case. Prosecutors, however, want the trial to stay in Jasper. A hearing on the change of venue request will take place April 19th.

Court TV's Bryan Robinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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